The present invention relates to containers and, more specifically, to an orifice reducer for a container neck.
In general, the neck of a typical container is fairly large in relation to the overall outer diameter of the container. The relatively large orifice makes the container easier to fill during the packaging process. In addition, several methods of forming plastic containers, such as injection blow molding and extrusion blow molding, inherently result in a neck of relatively large diameter.
In many applications, it is desired to have a container opening that is smaller than the neck opening in the final consumer application. A smaller neck opening typically makes it easier to control dispensing of the product, producing less wasted product. Examples of where a reduced orifice is desirable are where the container houses an expensive product that is used in relatively small quantities and where the contents of the container must be carefully dispensed in a controlled manner.
To achieve this goal, orifice reducers have been developed in the industry. A conventional orifice reducer generally includes a plastic plug with a center aperture that is inserted in the neck of a container. The center aperture is typically considerably smaller than the neck of the container. This reduces the effective size of the opening and reduces the rate at which a product is dispensed from a container, thus giving the consumer greater control and decreasing the amount of product wasted.
In general, conventional orifice reducers include a top wall positioned atop a circumferential wall. The circumferential wall is sized to be securely fitted into the neck of the bottle. The top wall closes the relatively large neck opening and includes its own smaller opening that is sized to provide the desired volume of flow from the bottle. In some applications, the top wall will have a greater diameter than the circumferential wall so that it covers the top edge of the bottleneck. This provides aesthetic benefits and also helps to prevent the orifice reducer from being inserted too far into the container neck.
Conventional orifice reducers can, however, be relatively difficult to insert in containers with irregularly sized or irregularly shaped neck openings. When a conventional orifice reducer is inserted into an irregularly sized or shaped neck opening, the circumferential wall will not fit cleanly into the opening. Instead, the orifice reducer must deform to match the size and shape of the container neck. The force required to cause the orifice reducer to deform can be significant. So much so, in some applications, that conventional packaging machinery is not capable of performing the insertion. As a result, expensive, custom manufactured machinery is sometimes necessary with conventional orifice reducers. Further, deformation of the circumferential wall may cause buckles or other sever deformations that may impair the ability of the orifice reducer to seal against the inside of the container neck.